World Screen

BURBANK: The half-hour comedy Melissa & Joey, starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, has been picked up for a ten-episode order by ABC Family. Lawrence and Hart also serve as executive producers on the new multi-camera series. Hart portrays …

BEVERLY HILLS: Netflix has signed a number of new deals to add some 300 additional independent films to its service, with viewers able to stream the movies instantly. Films from such distributors as The Criterion Collection, Gravitas Ventures, Kino Lorber, …

NEW YORK: Univision Communications is working with The Clorox Company on a range of original content as well as an interactive platform where Hispanic women can discuss topics that are relevant to their lives. The Clorox/Univision initiative, called “Compartiendo Entre Amigas” …

ATLANTA: TBS has secured a deal for a pilot script from actor David Spade, Sony Pictures Television and Happy Madison Productions for an animated version of the movie The Adventures of Joe Dirt. The pilot script for Joe Dirt will …

NEW YORK: Thom Beers’ Original Productions, majority owned by FremantleMedia, is developing a late-night series for Spike, and has been commissioned for a third season of the cable network’s popular show 1,000 Ways to Die. Spike TV is partnering with …

NEW YORK: U.S. President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address on Wednesday at 9 p.m. was broadcast on 11 networks, averaging 48 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Viewership for Obama’s State of the Union address was down 7 …

BRUSSELS: The European Commission is taking action against France for the tax on telecommunications operators that was instituted to offset the losses from the elimination of advertising on public TV. The Commission says it has opened an infringement procedure against …

WASHINGTON: Comcast Corporation and GE, seeking regulatory approval for their NBC Universal deal, have committed to keeping broadcast TV free, upping kids’ content output and bolstering local news programming in their submission to the FCC. The filing to the FCC …

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Janet Han Vissering has been promoted within National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) to the role of senior VP of development and co-finance. She has served for the past seven years as senior VP of strategic development and co-finance. …

LONDON: Turner Broadcasting has expanded the responsibilities of its senior VP of entertainment for Northern Europe, Pete Flamman, to include oversight for the company’s U.K. entertainment business. Flamman currently manages the Northern European region‚ covering Germany, Central and Eastern Europe …